Why Don't You Want Me?
by shoveoff-malfoy
Summary: Imogen has been obsessed with Eli since the beginning of her junior year. She's watched as Clare stole Eli's heart and watched as she broke it. Watch Imogen as she makes a move on Eli and tries to impress him, her peers and her family with her lies.
1. Chapter 1

**Dirt Off Your Shoulder never happened. This is my introduction of Imogen Moreno.**

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><p>As soon as I got home from school, I ran to my bedroom, slammed the door shut and dropped into the chair in front of my desk. I opened my newly bought Degrassi yearbook and flipped through the pages. I skipped to the juniors section and to the G's. My eyes scanned the page for the name: Eli Goldsworthy. There! I admired his picture. He was the most gorgeous guy I've ever seen. I picked up a sharpie and drew a heart around his face. I looked over to the M's and found my picture. I cut it out and tried to find a glue stick in one of the desk drawers. When I found what I was looking for I rubbed the glue onto the back of my picture and stuck it right next to Eli's. After I grinned at my creation, I found the sophomores section. I looked for the E's and found her. The girl I loathed; the girl who took Eli Goldsworthy away from me, just to break his heart. The girl Eli Goldsworthy was still in love with. I tore her picture out of the book, went into my desk drawer for one final thing: a lighter. I went outside of my apartment complex and I clicked the lighter on, an orange flame erupted from the top. I put the flame to the corner of Clare Diane Edwards' picture and watched as it engulfed her ugly, manipulative, judgmental face. A sinister smile crept upon my face and I dropped the picture as the flame burnt my finger.<p>

"OUCH!" My finger turned bright red and I put it into my mouth to ease the pain. "This is all your fault, Clare, YOU STUPID BITCH!" I screamed, looking at the place where the picture fell and feeling pleased when passing people stopped and turned around to look at me. I went back into the complex and into my room again. My mom should be home from work soon. She works as a clerk in a hospital and she's a single mom.

My father is out of the picture. My mom got pregnant when she was twenty and my father didn't feel like sticking around so, he left her to raise me on her own. I've never spoken to my dad. I've never even seen a picture of him. I don't intend on ever meeting him, though. He probably doesn't give a shit about me. He probably never thinks about me, though he crosses my mind at least once a day.

I go into the kitchen, sit at the table and start my Algebra II homework. After I finish and I start putting my homework away, my mom comes home.

"Hello mom. How was work?" I asked my mother brightly.

"Oh, it was fine. How was school? Do you have any homework?" My mother asked me, putting her bag on the table.

"I just finished it. What's for dinner?" I asked.

"Hmm…" My mom said opening the fridge. "How's chicken casserole sound?"

"It sounds good. I'm gonna go check Facerange, okay?" I replied.

"All right. I'll have dinner finished soon."

I went into my room and over to my desk again and turned on my computer. I waited impatiently as it turned on and I opened the browser. I logged onto Facerange and searched Eli's name. He wasn't my friend on Facerange, since I've never talked to him before, but his profile wasn't protected so I could see all of his pictures and status updates. I looked at his most recent status and I figured they were lyrics to some emo love song. I became upset because I knew they were probably about the bitch. I looked through his profile pictures to see if the photo of him and Clare was still up. Every day I check to see if he's taken it down. Sure enough, there it was. It's been two weeks since Clare broke up with him and he still had that picture up. I winced as I noticed Eli's arm was around her shoulder. My blood was boiling. How could he still love the girl who broke his heart? The girl who didn't care about him enough to stay with him at the hospital after he crashed his car for her? He should love _me. _Not her. I would appreciate him like she never would. A rage shot through my body and the next thing I knew, I picked up my Algebra textbook, turned around and threw it, full force at the wall, my face felt hot and tears were streaming down my face. Realizing that Eli would probably never stop loving Clare and that he probably would never like me made me upset.

"What was that, Imogen?" I heard my mom's distant voice.

"Nothing, I just dropped something!" I yelled back.

Everyone at school thinks I'm a freak. I haven't had a real friend since middle school, but she thought I was a freak too and stopped talking to me. Everyone always leaves. I'm never good enough. That's why I make up lies to pretend I am.

"Dinner, Immy!" My mom's voice rang out again.

I went back into the kitchen and started eating.

"So, do you have any plans with any of your friends this weekend?" Mom asked while I put a forkful into my mouth, thinking of an answer.

"Yes, actually." I answered after I swallowed. "I'm going to go to hang out at The Dot with a couple of friends on Friday." I lied.

"Oh, really? Who with? Eli, Clare and Adam, like usual?"

"Yeah, we have a project we're working on for English class."

"So, how are things with you and Eli? I still haven't met him…"

"Everything's great, thanks." I lie to my mom a lot. I care about what she thinks. Even though she's my mom, I don't want her to think I'm a loser.

I went to bed that night and lay imagining myself as Eli's girlfriend, for real. We're sitting at our special bench, or Clare and Eli's special bench, but now it's ours and Eli doesn't love Clare, he hates her.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading! Four reviews and I'll submit the next chapter, just to make sure you guys are enjoying my story. Criticism is welcome!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it!  
><strong>

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><p>The next day when I got to Degrassi, I went straight to my locker and retrieved my books. The warning bell came and I headed to first period, grade eleven advanced English which is one of my favorite classes because Eli's in it. Sure Clare's in it too, but now since she broke Eli's heart, I don't have to watch her talk to Eli anymore. I stared at the doorway, waiting for Eli to waltz into class, but by the time the second bell rang, he still hadn't come. I hated when he skipped. He's basically the only thing keeping me motivated to come to school. I listened to the teacher drone on about the themes of The Great Gatsby.<p>

I started thinking about Eli again. I imagined Eli walking up to me at my locker and asking me out on a date.

"_Hey Imogen, I'm Eli. I'm in a few of your classes. I was wondering if you wanted to get together for coffee sometime." My heart fluttered even though I knew this wasn't real._

"Imogen… Imogen." I was snapped back into reality at the sound of Mrs. Dawes calling my name.

"Yes?" I answered, blushing.

"Did you hear me at all?" Mrs. Dawes asked.

"I'm so sorry! I just got lost inside my head, I guess." I tried to sound interesting as I told her this.

"Okay, but start paying attention, please." I nodded and smiled in response to Mrs. Dawes.

Lunch time soon rolled around and I went into the café to eat. I grabbed an edible enough looking sandwich and sat down at the nearest table. There were five snobby looking girls staring at me like I was intruding on their private conversation. I think one of their names was Marisol.

"So anyway, my dad just got us tickets to Germany for summer vacation!" The girl named Marisol said to her friends.

"I've been there!" I piped up.

"Have you?" She said, looking over to her friends and appearing doubtful at my statement.

"Yeah, my dad's on a tour over there and my mom and I visited him over Spring break." "He's in the army." I added when Marisol was looking confused.

"That must suck; not getting to see him every day, I mean." Marisol actually looked like she felt bad for me.

"Yeah, I miss him a lot." I replied to her, faking a sad expression. I could care less about my father who wasn't really in the army; at least I assumed he wasn't. He could be dead for all I knew. I didn't feel bad for lying. I mean, for all I knew maybe he was in the Army. I ate the rest of my lunch and left, heading for the last period of the day: Algebra II with Mr. Armstrong. We were having a test today. The teacher handed out our tests and I got to question ten before someone tapped me on my shoulder.

"Imogen, do you know the answer to question three?" I heard someone whisper from behind me.

I whipped around and saw Drew Torres leaning towards me, waiting for a response.

"Drew Torres, haven't you ever heard the expression 'cheaters never prosper'?" Drew rolled his eyes as I said this and looked around for someone else to harass.

I woke up to Friday. The day I told my mom I'd meet Eli, Clare and Adam at The Dot. I reminded her of this before I left for school. I really wish it wasn't a lie. I really wish that I actually dated Eli and that I had friends I could hang out at The Dot with. But I lived my life as a lie. Every time I told my mom I was hanging out with Eli, Clare and Adam, it really meant I was going to A) Sit at The Dot alone and do homework or B) Hang out by the bookstore, on Eli and my special bench.

Today, I watched the doorway again to see if Eli was going to show. I smiled as he came into the room. I was staring at him as he made his was over to his seat. He caught me staring at him and I quickly looked down, though I was satisfied that he acknowledged my existence.

"Hey, Eli, are we gonna have guys today?" I listened intently as Adam talked to Eli. I liked to get as much information on Eli as I could, and that meant eavesdropping.

"Yeah, meet at The Dot after school?" They were going to The Dot tonight. I could sit near them and listen to them talk. Maybe I'd say 'hi' tonight. I sat there, fantasizing the many different scenarios of tonight that would probably never play out.

My spirits were lifted for the rest of the day and after school was over, I waited near Eli's locker to get another look at him. I watched him throw his books into his bag and I followed him out into the parking lot to watch him leave in Morty. As he was making his way to his hearse, Fiona Celestine Arabella Coyne caught up with him.

"Eli, do you have any ideas for the play yet? We have a deadline, you know." Fiona was the new director for the school play and Eli was the new writer. I knew this because I'm in Drama class with them. I admired Eli's work. I've read Stalker Angel a couple dozen times; it's brilliant. I pretend that Eli wrote it for me, instead of for Clare, who wasn't even happy that Eli wrote a story about her. She didn't understand Eli like I did. I knew that the story was a metaphor for eternal love. Clare was dumb enough to actually be _scared_ of him, though. Sometimes, when Eli handed in his essays or stories to Ms. Dawes, I would take them from her desk and read them. Of course I always put them back, but I'm just so infatuated by Eli's work. His characters are always so interesting, and I love the dark themes of his writings.

"Don't worry. I'll have it done _before_ the deadline." Eli replied to her. I wish I could help him with his writers block. We would make the perfect team. We could sit at our special bench or at The Dot and brainstorm together. I could come over to his house…

Instead of walking home today, I walked to The Dot. I took a seat in one of the tables in the back corner and ordered a cup of oolong tea. Eli and Adam weren't here yet, so I started on my homework. I finished Algebra and was halfway through Chemistry when I heard the bell on the door ring and looked up to see Eli and Adam walking in. They took a seat at a table within earshot of mine. Eli's back was facing me. They both ordered coffee and they began conversing.

"Have you talked to Katie yet?" Eli asked Adam while giving him a half-smirk that made my heart melt.

"No, and I don't plan on it either." Adam replied to Eli, looking annoyed.

"Come on, you've got to make a move before someone else does."

"I don't want another girl to freak out about my… situation." Adam is an FTM. When Eli, Adam and Clare were sitting at a picnic table outside of Degrassi one day, I just so happened to be sitting near them and I overheard Adam confess to Eli and Clare his secret. Eli's acceptance of Adam made me like him even more.

"Adam, you've got to take a chance. Not everyone is going to accept you, but not everyone is going to reject you either. She might surprise you." As Eli said this, the girl I loathed walked in. She was with her friend Alli and she stopped when she saw Eli. She turned around and whispered something to Alli, but Alli grabbed her by the hand and dragged her over to a table far from Eli. Adam and Eli had both seen her.

"So, let's talk about _your_ love life now. Have you spoken to Clare since your incident?" Adam asked Eli seriously.

"No, I've tried calling, texting, leaving her notes at her locker, but she never responds and there's no way I can talk to her face to face. She turns the opposite direction whenever she sees me and she practically runs out of English class after the bell rings."

"… Do you still, you know… love her?" Adam asked, unsure if Eli was okay with him asking that. Eli took a few moments to respond and my anger was quickly rising as he took longer, and longer to reply.

"Honestly… yeah. And I haven't exactly been able to get any closure." As Eli said this, I couldn't stop the tears from coming. He still loved her; he still loved the girl who ripped his heart out again, and again. I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"I can help you with that. Getting closure, I mean." I don't know what came over me, but I walked up to Eli and it was like my mind had taken over my mind, if that even makes sense.

"Have you been listening to our conversation?" Eli asked me after being utterly bewildered for a second.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear, you know."

"So, how do you propose I get closure?" Eli didn't seem weirded out by me, but Adam was looking at me like I was a psycho.

"Go on a date with me." I replied with a sudden confidence.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Imogen Moreno pleased to meet you."

"Likewise, but..._ who_ are you?"

"Oh nobody really, I'm in a few of your classes at Degrassi."

"You're from English class right?" Eli said with a sudden realization washing over him.

"Drama class too. So, do you accept my invitation? If so, meet me here tomorrow at noon." And with that, I picked up my bag, and walked out of The Dot, not knowing whether I should kill myself to be saved from any more humiliation.

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><p><strong>I really hope you guys liked this. Please review and tell me what you thought of it. <strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: None of the things that have happened thus far in season 11 have happened in my story. Also, Morty wasn't totaled! Thank you all for reviewing and subscribing!  
><strong>

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><p>While I was trying to fall asleep that night, I replayed what had happened at The Dot over and over and over again in my mind. I had talked to Elijah for the first time. I wonder what he thought of me… I hoped that he thought I was interesting… that I drew him into me so he had no choice but to come to The Dot tomorrow.<p>

My alarm sounded at 10 AM and I opened my eyes. My room was a blur of red and I realized it was the color of my walls. I turned to my side to stop the beep of my alarm clock. I felt like my eyelids had ten pound weights on them and was just about to fall asleep when I realized that I had my date with Eli today and my head swam as I bolted upright, excited for the day ahead of me. I got into the shower and pinned two buns on each side of my head with the ends of my hair sticking out. I opened my dresser and put on a pair of blue leggings, a geometric patterned skirt, a t shirt and a black drum major jacket, just like the one Eli had. I went into my kitchen and ate a bowl of cereal to pass the time. I looked at the clock on the wall and it read 11: 30. I told my mom I was going to meet up with Eli and left. My feet couldn't take me across the pavement fast enough. I didn't even admire my surroundings because all I could think about was Eli. I finally got to The Dot and sat at my usual seat in the back corner. I looked around the restaurant for Eli but only saw a few randoms from Degrassi. I picked up the menu to keep me busy while I waited. To say I was nervous was an understatement. My heart was pounding in my throat as I tried to read the menu. My brain wasn't absorbing any of the information on it though.

"Excuse me! Can you tell me the time, please?" I asked a passing waiter who I then recognized to be Mark Fitzgerald. Mark was a merciless bully. I would never forget how he treated Eli.

"It's 11: 55, miss." He smiled at me. I rolled my eyes at him and he walked away, looking hurt.

Eli should be here soon… I watched out the window for a black vintage hearse. A couple of minutes later, Morty parked outside. I shifted my eyes to the door and a black haired boy walked in. He looked around the room.

"Eli! Eli, over here!" I called across the room. He looked startled but made his way over to me.

"Hello, Elijah." He looked surprised at being addressed by his full name and sat down opposite me.

"Hey." He gave me a half smirk and I grinned at him. We sat there without saying anything for a couple of moments and he looked like he felt awkward.

"So, how are you?" He jumped a bit when I broke the silence.

"I'm okay… and you?"

"I'm great." I gazed at him for a few more moments.

"So… what is it you wanted to help me with? Getting closure you said?" Eli was the one to break the silence this time.

"Word travels at Degrassi and I know all about Clare and your relationship. When I heard you admit you were still in love with Clare yesterday, I couldn't understand how you could possibly say that. How could you still love someone who broke up with you after you crashed your car for her? You did it out of love Eli, love! But she didn't realize that. She claimed you were 'manipulating' her. I don't know whether you knew this bit, but she went back to the dance, knowing that you were seriously injured. I saw her, dancing with that friend of hers, acting like nothing even happened. She didn't care that you loved her, that you almost died for her, so why are you still hung up on her? " Eli's face crumpled as I said this.

"I don't _want_ to be in love with her! But I can't just stop. After all we've been through, I can't. I never stopped loving her, but she stopped loving me. That's why she broke up with me. I wasn't good enough for her. I tried so _hard_ to make her happy, but that didn't mean anything to her. What's _wrong _with her?" I got what I wanted from Eli. I got him to say something negative about Clare. That was the first step of my plan; my plan to have Eli for myself.

"Look at you! You're already making progress. You've realized that _she _was the one with the problem. She's poison, Eli."

"Wow. I don't love her right now... I'm actually mad at her." Eli looked amazed.

"You're moving on, see?"

"You're the only person who has actually been helpful since the breakup, and I only just met you yesterday." It felt good to have Eli's approval. This was going better than I'd hoped.

"Well, big help comes from unexpected people." I winked at him. "Do you want to get some coffee now?"

We both ordered cappuccinos and sat and talked for a bit longer.

"Do you want me to take you home?" Eli asked me when it had reached 1: 30 PM.

"That'd be great if you don't mind!" I tried to keep calm as I went crazy on the inside.

As he drove by the park, everything looked greener, brighter. When we were drinking our cappuccinos at The Dot, the usual crappy coffee tasted better, just because I was with Eli. He made everything better. I told him where to go to get to my house and made him take the long way so I could be with him for longer. When he finally got to my house, my bright spirits plummeted. I didn't want to leave him.

"Imogen, I had a great time. Thanks for helping me." He gave me the half smirk that I loved so much.

"No problem at all, Elijah! We should hang out again soon!" I opened the door to the hearse and waved goodbye as he drove off.

I went up to my apartment and into my room. Lying on my bed, I pinched myself to make sure this whole day hadn't been a dream. Three days ago, I would have never thought this would have happened. I never thought I'd have the courage to even say 'hi' to Elijah, but I had just had a conversation with him at The Dot and he even gave me a ride home. This had been the best day of my life and the only thing that would beat this day is getting kissed by Eli, becoming his girlfriend, getting married to him... I pictured myself in a white dress with beautiful lace and Eli in a tuxedo. I laughed at the thought of him in a suit. He would probably wear skinny jeans and a band tee to his wedding. I spent all of Sunday shut up in my home. It was a terrible day compared with the wonderful one I had yesterday. All I could think about was seeing Eli again on Monday.

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><p><strong>Short chapter compared to the last one, sorry! Your reviews give me motivation to write so please don't stop! Thank you for reading. :D<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter! Thanks to all for reviewing!  
><strong>

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><p>"Imogen, when will I get to meet Eli?" My mother asked me over breakfast Monday morning. "If I didn't know you better, I'd think you made him up." My mother laughed as I chuckled along uncomfortably. I hadn't made him up but I <em>was<em> lying to her; she _didn't_ know me. She only knew lies.

My mom gave me a ride to school and my heart fluttered when I saw a shaggy black head disappear through the front doors of Degrassi. I'd been waiting eagerly to see him since Saturday. I scrambled out of the car and ran up the steps, into the school. I rushed up behind Eli.

"Hey, Elijah." He jumped and whipped around.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack." He said clutching his chest which I gazed at.

"I wouldn't want to do that. How was your Sunday?"

"Okay, how was yours?"

"Great! I went to a Dead Hand concert!" I had seen Eli wearing a Dead Hand shirt before and looked them up. I thought the music was bad, but if Eli likes them, I'll pretend to like them.

"I.. didn't know they were having a concert." He said, apprehensively.

"It seems like you're out of the loop, Eli Goldsworty." He shook his head.

"Yeah." The first bell rang. "I've got to get to my locker, see you in English class." He gave me a half-smirk and I waved at him.

"We're working on a new project today." Ms. Dawes told our class. "You will be working with your partners from the first semester." I glanced over at Eli, who looked frantic. Perfect, he would be working with Clare again. What if they made up and got back together?

"Ms., why aren't we working with our _new_ partners?" I asked Ms. Dawes. I couldn't let Clare trap Eli in another relationship.

"I don't think the new partners are working out as well as the old ones. Your papers have been particularly bad since the partner switch and I wanted to see if you all would do better if you had your old partners back." She said, looking around at the rest of the class. "I'm going to go to the copy room to get your project guideline sheets." And she left the room.

Eli got up from his seat and began walking in my direction.

"Imogen, I can't talk to Clare. What do I do?" Eli asked me, panic etched across his face.

"Do you want to skip?" I remembered Eli telling Clare to skip when she wasn't ready to turn in her paper for English.

"Come with me." He said as he took my arm and we walked over to the exit. I looked around the room and laughed at the offended look Clare was wearing as she watched us leave.

"Where do you wanna go, The Dot?" Eli asked as we made our way through the parking lot and got into the hearse.

"Hm... I need a change of scenery. What about the bookstore on Knockturn Alley? I want to pick up the new Gothic Tales magazine." Actually, I just wanted for Eli to think I was interested in the same things as him and for us to sit on our special bench outside the store.

"You like Gothic Tales? What's your favorite story?" Eli looked excited that he could talk about Gothic Tales with me.

"There's this one that I read… I don't know the name of the author, but it's called Stalker Angel. It's great, you should read it sometime!"

"Are you serious? I wrote Stalker Angel!" Eli beamed at me.

"No way, are you lying to me Elijah?" I laughed at the irony.

We both got our copies of Gothic Tales and sat on our special bench, reading them.

I couldn't stand just sitting there, pretending to read Gothic Tales. I wanted to talk to Eli.

"So, Eli, do you have any ideas for the play?" Eli looked up from his magazine.

"How'd you know I still didn't have any ideas for the play?"

"I can tell by the look on your face whenever Fiona warns you about the deadline." I covered up.

"Oh, well no. I spent all of Sunday trying to brainstorm. But I've got nothing. My head is just… empty."

"Well lucky for you, Mr. Goldsworthy, my mind is always bursting with ideas." I put on a focused face. "Picture this: Kitty, a boring, judgmental prude, manipulates a sweet, caring, sarcastic boy named Ellis throughout their relationship. Ellis is oblivious to what Clare – I mean Kitty is doing and is somehow in love with her. He tries to make her happy, but she develops a scheme to turn the tables and tell him that _he _was the manipulator in the relationship. And SNAP -He jumped back. "- she breaks his heart." Another way to get Eli turned against Clare; to get him further, and further away from Clare.

"Imogen, I don't know what your 'news source' is, but that's not the truth. I can't do that to Clare. I can't lie like that." It wasn't a lie. I _knew_. I was my own news source.

"But… in The Dot the other day… you agreed with me."

"I know, but after I did some thinking, I realized that I was the wrong one; I was suffocating her, just like she said I was. I shouldn't have put her through all of that. I crashed my car to make her feel guilty for breaking up with me." How could he not realize that Clare was in the wrong? He only tried to make her happy and she treated him like he was nothing; like his love meant nothing.

"Eli, you can suffocate _me_ any time you want to, I won't mind. I'd want you to be around me."

"I'm sorry Imogen, I like you, I really do but not like that. I still love Clare, and I think I always will. That's why I couldn't talk to her today. She's over me and I still love her."

I tried to keep back the tears that I knew were coming.

"I have to go, Elijah." And I left, before I could get a response from him. I didn't want to go back to school; I couldn't go in the emotional state I was in. I went home and thought about what had just happened. Clare won again. She always won. Why couldn't Eli realize that I wouldn't complain about every single thing he does like Clare always did? I let the tears fall freely. I put myself out there, just to be rejected by the guy that I would probably never get over. I wasn't going to give up on Eli though, I would never give up on him.

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><p><strong>Reviews are very much appreciated! I love to hear your opinions! Feel free to critique me!<strong>


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